Dan Boyle wants to remain with Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Defenseman Dan Boyle said Friday he wants to be back with the Sharks for next season and beyond, adding that he believes he can be "part of the solution" as the team tries to rebound from the most gut-wrenching playoff series loss in franchise history.

The 37-year-old Boyle, who made $6.66 million this past season and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, said he has expressed to the Sharks that he would like to be back in San Jose in the fall. But he added that he has not gotten an indication from the Sharks as to whether they want him back.

"I like it here, of course. Then again, there are two sides to it," said Boyle, who is in the last year of his contract that paid him $40 million over six years. "They've got to want me back, so we'll see how it plays out. I don't have anything to go on right now. I believe I'm part of the solution and not part of the problem moving forward. We'll see what happens."

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson did not want to publicly address specific players Friday, said he first needed to meet with members of the team.

"We lost, and the responsibility is shared amongst all of us. It starts with me," Wilson said, adding that coach Todd McLellan, "talked about some of the issues that he saw and he felt. It's what before who. We'll get to who soon enough."

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Boyle said he would like to play more than one more year.

"I understand where I'm at. I'm not looking for three-four years, but I've got more than one," Boyle said. "I think that there's going to be a lot of talk about my age and me moving forward, and the decline of my game, which I've heard a lot. But I'm proud the way I finished the season. How I played in the playoffs."

Boyle, the Sharks' best puck-moving defenseman, had four assists in the seven-game loss to the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference quarterfinals. But only one of those assists came in the last four games of the series, as the Sharks let a three-games-to-none lead slip away. The Kings capped the historic comeback with a 5-1 victory in Game 7 on Wednesday.

"This is the first time I've left my house since I got back after the game," Boyle said. "It's definitely the worst loss in my career, and I'm not going to get over this for a long time. This one hurts a lot."

Boyle, who has 561 points in 954 career regular-season games, had 36 points in 75 games this season. He missed seven games in the second half of October with a concussion after an illegal check by Maxim Lapierre of the St. Louis Blues.

"I went through a really, really difficult start to the season with the concussion, and it took me a long time to get back," Boyle said, "but I think if I can look back at the last couple months, I'm proud of where I'm at and what I can still bring to the table."